Imperator Aleksandr II served in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas before becoming a gunnery training ship in 1904, but she was inactive during World War I before joining the Bolsheviks in 1917.

The Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleships were the first all-steel battleships to be built for the Baltic Fleet and were designed to allow Russia to dominate the Baltic Sea by defeating rival ships like the Helgoland and the German Sachsen-class ironclads, both of which were built of wrought iron.

In addition their forecastle deck sloped slightly downwards to allow the main guns to fire at the waterline of the enemy at short range as the ship closed to ram.

They were considered to have good seagoing qualities, with a tactical diameter of 570 yards (520 m) and they could complete a full 360° circle in seven minutes and 32 seconds.

[3] The Imperator Aleksandr II-class ships had two 3-cylinder vertical compound steam engines driving 17-foot (5.2 m) screw propellers.

The engines of the Imperator Aleksandr II were built by Baltic Works and had a total designed output of 8,500 ihp (6,338 kW).

[4] Imperator Nikolai I's engines were built by the Franco-Russian Works, but only had a designed output of 8,000 ihp (5,966 kW).

She carried 967 long tons (983 t) of coal that gave her a range of 2,630 nautical miles (4,870 km) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[5] The main armament of the Imperator Aleksandr II-class ships was a pair of 12-inch (305 mm) Obukhov Model 1877 30-caliber guns.

[3] The four 9-inch (229 mm) Obukhov Model 1877 35-caliber guns were on center-pivot mounts in casemates at the corners of the citadel, the hull being recessed to increase their arcs of fire ahead or behind.

[8] The ten 47-millimeter (1.9 in) Hotchkiss revolving cannon were mounted in hull embrasures of the ship, between the nine and six-inch guns to defend against torpedo boats.

They fired a 3.3-pound (1.5 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,476 ft/s (450 m/s) at a rate of 30 rounds per minute to a range of 2,020 yards (1,850 m).

They fired a 1.1-pound (0.50 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,450 ft/s (440 m/s) at a rate of 32 rounds per minute to a range of 3,038 yards (2,778 m).

The main waterline belt had a maximum thickness of 14 inches (356 mm) abreast the machinery spaces and was 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) high on Imperator Aleksandr II.

[13] The flat protective deck was positioned at the upper edge of the belt on both ships and was 2.5 inches (64 mm) thick and consisted of two layers of mild steel.

Construction began on 20 March 1886; she was launched on 1 June 1889, and completed in July 1891 although her trials lasted almost a year afterwards.

[15] Imperator Aleksandr II served in the Baltic Fleet and represented Russia, along with the cruiser Rurik, at the opening of the Kiel Canal in June 1895.

[16] She was reboilered in December 1903 and modified 1904–05 to serve as an artillery school ship with her secondary armament replaced by more modern guns.

[17] Her crew refused to suppress the mutinous garrison of Fort Konstantin defending Kronstadt in August 1906.

Turned over to the Kronstadt port authority on 21 April 1921, Imperator Aleksandr II was sold for scrap on 22 August 1922.

[20] Imperator Nikolai I sailed in June 1892 for New York City to participate in the celebration honoring the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America.

She was stricken on 1 May 1915 and sunk as a target by the battlecruisers Kongō and Hiei,[21] although Watts and Gordon in The Imperial Japanese Navy claim that she was scrapped in 1922.